Al Qaeda Fleeing Iraq, Violence Plummeting
General Odierno
BAGHDAD - The No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq said Thursday that a seven-month-old security operation has cut violence in Baghdad by half.
On Thursday, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno told reporters that car bombs and suicide attacks in Baghdad have fallen to their lowest level in a year, and civilian casualties have dropped from a high of about 32 to 12 per day.
Al-Qaida in Iraq was “increasingly being pushed out of Baghdad, “seeking refuge outside” the capital and “even fleeing Iraq,” Odierno said.
Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar, the Iraqi military commander, said that before the troop buildup, one-third of Baghdad’s 507 districts were under insurgent control.
“Now, only five to six districts can be called hot areas,” he said. “Al-Qaida now is left only with booby-trapped cars and roadside bombs as their only weapons, which cannot be called quality operations, and they do not worry us.”
“What we do know is that there has been a decline in civilian casualties, but I would say again that it’s not at the level we want it to be,” Odierno said. “There are still way too many civilian casualties inside of Baghdad and Iraq.”
Meanwhile, an Iranian officer who was smuggling powerful roadside bombs into Iraq was arrested Thursday, the military said. The terrorist—a member of the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards—was captured in a hotel in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, the military said.
He was involved in transporting roadside bombs, including armor-piercing explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, into Iraq, according to a statement. It said intelligence reports also indicated he was involved in the infiltration and training of foreign fighters into Iraq.
Officials have said the Bush administration is expected to blacklist the Quds force as a terrorist organization, subjecting part of the vast military operation to financial sanctions.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said seven Shiite extremists were detained following a pre-dawn raid by Iraqi special forces and U.S. troops in Sadr City.
the AP contributed to this report
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Where can I find this in the MSM?
September 20th, 2007 at 7:32 amGO GET SOME MORE MEN!!!!!!!!!!
September 20th, 2007 at 7:34 amFuck yeah, mess with best, die like the rest!
September 20th, 2007 at 7:38 amSo where are they going?
September 20th, 2007 at 7:39 amWe all do Ahmadikwad and his mouth pieces (including the gay lover
) will deny the connection, and use the same old lline that the guy is a legitimate member of the diplomatic corps, and that is all the LMSM will report, another illegal detention of peaceful Iranians… I wonder how much Soros and the rest of the bastards get in kick backs from AQ????
September 20th, 2007 at 7:42 amKnocking them down like bowling pins…Great F*ing job on the capture, guys are in a zone.
September 20th, 2007 at 7:52 am…Meanwhile, an Iranian officer who was smuggling powerful roadside bombs into Iraq was arrested Thursday, the military said. The terrorist—a member of the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards—was captured in a hotel in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, the military said…
Get the waterboard.
It would be nice if Iraq would seriously threaten Iran with war if they dont cut this shit out. The US plus Iraq would crush the Iranian military and the people of Iran could throw off their hated rulers.
September 20th, 2007 at 7:57 amIt’s on the frontpage of Yahoo. They should announce more of our successes!
September 20th, 2007 at 8:06 amGood news! Now lets send another 30,000 over for a few months and get rid of violence all together.
September 20th, 2007 at 8:41 amWanna bet the civilian deaths in Iraq from insurgent activity are lower than annual US accident deaths or the US murder stats?
Soros & Co already know this. They’re spew is all about the algoring loss in 2000. Their agenda is driven by pure hatred of anyone with a working moral compass and anyone who stands up the their moral equivalency butt buddies in irhabistan.
September 20th, 2007 at 8:46 amWe have to keep spreading the word about these kinds of success stories. The MSM wants us to fail so they can say, see I told you so!” I’m linking this to this story here
http://thedailyrazor.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=47&Itemid=1
September 20th, 2007 at 9:37 amDan-
September 20th, 2007 at 9:48 amThere is a big difference between dying in a car accident and being blown to bits by an IED. One you have nearly complete control over and the other you have nearly no control over. Sprinkle that sugar.
Eric, where is that violin……
September 20th, 2007 at 10:04 amEric, I would just add that you tell those thousands of families whose loved ones that were killed in accidents in the last year that their loved ones had complete control over their death. I’ll just sit here and scratch my head.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:24 amEric:
Your moral euivilence argument is pure sophistry. Whether one dies in a car wreck or by murder in the US or Iraq…one still dies. Get a grip on reality butthead.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:30 amIf any of you get the time
Check out this story about Rhamadi
http://www.michaeltotten.com/
Its a great read !!! And the Truth Up Front !!
September 20th, 2007 at 10:31 am“Your moral euivilence argument is pure sophistry. Whether one dies in a car wreck or by murder in the US or Iraq…one still dies.”
Exactly right Dan.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:50 amSomewhere close to 50,000 traffic related fatalities last year…. not a peep from the ‘left’.
As I’ve posted before, according to their beloved U.N., 5 MILLION fellow travelers on this planet will die this year from a lack of adequate drinking water and/or sanitation and 1 MILLION from malaria…. not a peep from the ‘left’ who are always so very concerned about ‘human life and dignity’. Yeah right.
What more proof is needed to confirm that the ‘protestations’ about Iraq, the cause du jour, are about nothing more than their leaders like Clinton, Obama, MOVEON, et al, willingness to use bloodshed as fodder for political ambitions and suckers like Eric here as “grassroots” (chuckle) mouthpieces?
…Wanna bet the civilian deaths in Iraq from insurgent activity are lower than annual US accident deaths or the US murder stats?…
US murders: 18000 per year
US auto deaths: 36000 per year
Even the iraq body count (http://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/) only sees max 80000 deaths in the 4.5 years since liberation, ie 18000 per year. This makes Iraq about 10 times more violent than the US, not bad for a third world country. If you compare some of our inner cities to Iraq that country is probably less violent.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:54 pmcheck out Iraq the Model Blog- second only to Pat Dollard in getting out the truth about the Middle East..
September 20th, 2007 at 12:58 pmYou are assuming the left wants the truth….
September 20th, 2007 at 1:31 pm[…] Al Qaeda Fleeing Iraq, Violence Plummeting […]
September 20th, 2007 at 1:36 pmsully:
Right on bro…well said…
September 20th, 2007 at 2:04 pm[Qoute:]
Steve in NC
So where are they going?
September 20th, 2007 at 7:39 am
[end Qoute]
They are all coming to America! We will take anyone here. Remember, there’s no such thing as an “illegal” in America!
September 20th, 2007 at 2:53 pmI’ve seen television interviews of Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno and if I was a member of Al Qaeda, i’d be hauling ass out of Iraq as quickly as I could too.
September 20th, 2007 at 2:59 pmONe Shot- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7004446.stm
front page material.
Dan - I’m not saying that a certain type of death is better or worse, death is death, no matter how you slice it. The sophistry is yours my friend. Are you trying to say that because civilian deaths in Iraq are less that automobile deaths in a country that is 10 times its size, then we shouldn’t worry about those deaths in Iraq? If not, what WAS your point?
Irish- The overwhelming majority of accidents are causes by driver error, such as speeding, DUI, wreckless driving, driving while tired, etc. My point is that to trivialize a civilian death in Iraq by comparing it to a DUI death statistic is way off base.
September 20th, 2007 at 5:38 pmTell me that they are fleeing to Iran! Hot Pursuit!
September 20th, 2007 at 7:45 pm“My point is that to trivialize a civilian death in Iraq by comparing it to a DUI death statistic is way off base.”
So a “DUI death statistic” in the U.S. is not a “civilian death”?
September 20th, 2007 at 8:35 pmOnly to a libtard invested (for no other reason than Hillabeast says so) in the ‘08 elections.
If you actually care about humanity fucktard, pray tell us what more pressing protestations are you embarked upon other than bitchin’ ’bout Bush and fucking with us here?
We’re about the business of doing whatever we can to make sure the shit pouring out of your mouth and others like you doesn’t get American soldiers killed.
Like I said earlier… go fuck yourself.
Back 50 years ago, a hero like Gen Odierno (and his son) wd be household names for every SIXTH-GRADER in America. Today you have to dig him up on the alternate media…
He is THA BOMB!!
September 20th, 2007 at 9:24 pmEric:
No the sophistry is yours and I ain’t your friend. You should try selling used cars lib. You wouldn’t be shit at that either.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:36 pmEric:
You are obviously too stupid for this blog. Try hanging out at the DailyKos. You don’t get the point, because “you don’t want to”. That’s OK lib. Everytime you stop in here you recruit more opponents for your party. So keep it up fucktard.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:39 pmDan and Sully,
September 21st, 2007 at 9:16 amExplain to me how automobile deaths in the US or anywhee in the world for that matter, can destabilize the Middle East. How can automobile deaths bring down a government and let Iran gain greater influence in the Middle East. THEY CANT!! You are comparing apples and oranges
Eric:
Take off the Dhimi talking points headset that you’re wearing. If you are too thick-headed to get the points that we made, then you are an idiot.
Go tell your buddies at BowelMovement.org and the DailyDiaperBabyKos that the surge is working and there ain’t a damn thing you or the rest of your party can do to change the focus.
Stick to selling used cars Eric.
September 21st, 2007 at 4:39 pm